2002-03 Men's Basketball

bc 88, ozarks 90

Bluffton falls to Ozarks in season opener at North Central

By Tim Stried, SIDNovember 22, 2002

The University of the Ozarks (Arkansas) scored the final five points of the game in
the last 30 seconds to hand Bluffton College a 90-88 loss Friday night in the opening
game of the North Central College Tip-off Tournament in Naperville, Illinois.

Bluffton led 88-85 with 42 seconds left to play after two free throws by Marcus Bixler,
but Ozarks hit a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left to take the lead and added a free
throw with 10 seconds left to claim the 2-point win.

The game was highlighted by 35 ties or lead changes as neither team was able to build
a double-digit lead at any point in the game.

Leimeister scored 20 of Bluffton's first 26 points in the game and finished the first
half with 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting. He was held to an 0-for-2 performance in
the second half, however, before fouling out, along with Derek DeNero and Eric Sweet.

Bluffton led by eight points with 11:22 left in the first half, which would be the
Beavers biggest lead of the night. At that point, however, Ozarks went on a 24-8 run
to take a 32-24 lead with 6:52 left before halftime. Bluffton scored the last seven
points of the first half to tie the score at 47-47 at the intermission.